BEAUMONT, Texas – The STATS Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll was released Monday and while Lamar will not enter the year ranked the one thing the poll did for LU was make it clear that Big Red's 2025 schedule presents golden opportunities.
 
One might ask, why is a story being written on Cardinals' football related to the poll if Lamar is not receiving early season credit from the prognosticators. There are two simple answers for that. First and foremost, we at LamarCardinals.com like to cause our boss tiny moments of stress for no reason at all (call it a poor sense of humor). Second, take a close look at the poll and fans of the Red and White will see that opportunities abound for this season.
 
There is not one coach in the country who has ever tried to raise a preseason national championship banner because preseason polls … don't … matter. With that being said, the poll revealed that Lamar's schedule consists of three nationally ranked squads, including two top-five opponents (No. 4 South Dakota and No. 5 UIW). Stephen F. Austin also finds itself ranked at 23 with another league school just on the outside looking in. Traditional powerhouse – Central Arkansas – is also on the Cardinals' 2025 docket and not ranked.
 
Third-year Lamar head coach Pete Rossomando has proven he is not afraid to play top tier programs. He literally began his Lamar career by hosting No. 8 Idaho (who some will recall was being talked about as a serious national championship contender that season). That contest against Idaho kicked off a historical season for LU that transitioned into back-to-back historical markers.
 
Rossomando's first year saw LU hang in the conference title chase until the next to last week of the season – the latest into a year that Lamar was battling for a ring since the program's return. The Cardinals also posted the nation's fourth-best single-season turnaround that year (for those wondering, LU was picked at, or near, the bottom in all conference preseason polls season). Year two, had Big Red land in the national rankings for the first time in program history and stay there for four weeks while also recording back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1966 and 1967.
 
If anything, Lamar fans should be excited about the national preseason polls. If Lamar takes care of business each week I can assure you that more – bigger - history is on the way. While we still have three weeks before the season opener, any true competitor is chomping at the bit to get this season started. Don't miss your opportunity to be a part of history in the making. Season tickets for the 2025 campaign are still available through LamarCardinals.com or by calling (409) 880-1715.